beach type. In addition to these major zonations of beach
environments, there are numerous smaller, but important,
morphological features such as the plunge step (Davis
and Fox, 1971), which is a small and commonly subtle
shore-parallel depression in the foreshore that is caused
by the final plunge of waves as they break for the last time
before surging up the beach face (Davis, 1978).
Classification of beaches
Many factors need to be considered in the classification of
beaches (e.g., Finkl, 2004) as they are among the most
dynamic features on earth, but even so they retain certain
overriding characteristics that facilitate generalization
and categorization. The overall gradient of the beach
and nearshore influences the amount of wave energy
that reaches the beach, giving it its configuration. Beach
materials, slope, and exposure interact with waves to produce the morphodynamic beach state that is constantly
adjusting to new environmental conditions. Although
beaches are one of the most dynamic morphosystems on
earth (literally changing every day), they exhibit a range
of characteristic morphologies that have been intensively
studied in Australia. The analysis of Australian beach
characteristics and shoreface dynamics (e.g., Short,
1993; Short, 1999) has led to a beach classification system
that is now used internationally.
According to the classification scheme for Australian
beaches (see discussion in Short and Woodroffe, 2009),
there are 15 major beach types that are derived from three
major beach systems: wave dominated, tide modified, and
tide dominated. An overview of the beaches of Australia,
which occupy half the 29,900-km-long coast (including
Tasmania), is provided by Short (2006) in his discussion
of the roles of waves, sediment, and tide range that contribute to beach type, particularly through the dimensionless fall velocity and relative tide range. Short’s
comprehensive study of Australian beach types includes
descriptions of their regional distribution, together with
the occurrence of rip currents, multibar beach systems,
and the influence of geological inheritance and marine
biota, a natural progression of comprehensive observational collages and models stemming from seminal works
(e.g., Wright and Short, 1984) commonly referred to as the
“Australian Beach Model” (Short, 2006).
Recognition of the 15 beach types occurring around the
Australian coast provides a basis for identifying similar
wave–tide–sediment environments throughout the world
and classification of many of the world’s beaches.
Although applied internationally, the Australian Beach
Model is not universal because it does not include tidemodified beaches exposed to higher ocean swell and
storm seas, resulting in similar though higher-energy
beaches, gravel, and cobble beaches (few occur in
Australia), nor ice-affected beaches (because they do not
occur in Australia). Nevertheless, this system finds wide
application throughout the world as, for example, in the
classification and study of Florida east coast beaches
(e.g., Benedet et al., 2004), eastern Brazil (e.g., Klein
Beach, Figure 4 Black sand beach composed of basaltic grains on the south coast of Iceland west of the Dyrho ´ laey promontory
(headland or cape), near Vik. The mafic composition of the basaltic grains does not make the clasts particularly durable, and they are
worn down by wave and surge action to finer-grained particles, as seen in the reticulate pattern on this extremely wide berm
and beach plain where there are darker-colored coarse-grained ridges and lighter-colored finer-grained flats. This black basaltic
beach and beach plain front a large sandur plain (Photo: C.W. Finkl).
BEACH
45
environments, there are numerous smaller, but important,
morphological features such as the plunge step (Davis
and Fox, 1971), which is a small and commonly subtle
shore-parallel depression in the foreshore that is caused
by the final plunge of waves as they break for the last time
before surging up the beach face (Davis, 1978).
Classification of beaches
Many factors need to be considered in the classification of
beaches (e.g., Finkl, 2004) as they are among the most
dynamic features on earth, but even so they retain certain
overriding characteristics that facilitate generalization
and categorization. The overall gradient of the beach
and nearshore influences the amount of wave energy
that reaches the beach, giving it its configuration. Beach
materials, slope, and exposure interact with waves to produce the morphodynamic beach state that is constantly
adjusting to new environmental conditions. Although
beaches are one of the most dynamic morphosystems on
earth (literally changing every day), they exhibit a range
of characteristic morphologies that have been intensively
studied in Australia. The analysis of Australian beach
characteristics and shoreface dynamics (e.g., Short,
1993; Short, 1999) has led to a beach classification system
that is now used internationally.
According to the classification scheme for Australian
beaches (see discussion in Short and Woodroffe, 2009),
there are 15 major beach types that are derived from three
major beach systems: wave dominated, tide modified, and
tide dominated. An overview of the beaches of Australia,
which occupy half the 29,900-km-long coast (including
Tasmania), is provided by Short (2006) in his discussion
of the roles of waves, sediment, and tide range that contribute to beach type, particularly through the dimensionless fall velocity and relative tide range. Short’s
comprehensive study of Australian beach types includes
descriptions of their regional distribution, together with
the occurrence of rip currents, multibar beach systems,
and the influence of geological inheritance and marine
biota, a natural progression of comprehensive observational collages and models stemming from seminal works
(e.g., Wright and Short, 1984) commonly referred to as the
“Australian Beach Model” (Short, 2006).
Recognition of the 15 beach types occurring around the
Australian coast provides a basis for identifying similar
wave–tide–sediment environments throughout the world
and classification of many of the world’s beaches.
Although applied internationally, the Australian Beach
Model is not universal because it does not include tidemodified beaches exposed to higher ocean swell and
storm seas, resulting in similar though higher-energy
beaches, gravel, and cobble beaches (few occur in
Australia), nor ice-affected beaches (because they do not
occur in Australia). Nevertheless, this system finds wide
application throughout the world as, for example, in the
classification and study of Florida east coast beaches
(e.g., Benedet et al., 2004), eastern Brazil (e.g., Klein
Beach, Figure 4 Black sand beach composed of basaltic grains on the south coast of Iceland west of the Dyrho ´ laey promontory
(headland or cape), near Vik. The mafic composition of the basaltic grains does not make the clasts particularly durable, and they are
worn down by wave and surge action to finer-grained particles, as seen in the reticulate pattern on this extremely wide berm
and beach plain where there are darker-colored coarse-grained ridges and lighter-colored finer-grained flats. This black basaltic
beach and beach plain front a large sandur plain (Photo: C.W. Finkl).
BEACH
45